Originally called Team Sheffrec, the club was formed in 1989 by a group of Sheffield Recreation workers (hence the name). The founder members were: Brian Brogan, Dave Mappin, Chris Dale, Martin Brown, Ed Joy, Mick Boustred and Wayne Peacock. This was a very active road racing club competing in Time Trials, Grass Track, Road Racing as well as the odd Cyclo-Cross and even some mountain biking events. The early 1990’s were a great time for Team Sheffrec with Matt McNaughton winning several junior MTB races and Marc Etches claimed a series win at Clipstone Forest and enjoyed several top 10 placings in National MTB races. Founder member, Wayne Peacock went on to win major road races in France during the Summer of 1992.
Now renamed ‘Sheffrec Cycling Club’, we still maintain a focus on the competitive aspects of cycling, but have extended the range of activities and placed a greater emphasis on the social side. Our core activity is the Sunday Club Run, which aims to be as inclusive as possible, with newcomers and younger riders welcomed and every effort being made to keep all riders together throughout the day. On most occasions we head out from Malin Bridge into different parts of the the beautiful, but sometimes challenging, Peak District for rides of around 40-60 miles, taking in a cafe stop.
We pride ourselves on an ethos of One Love, which is emblazoned on our kit, and aim to practice this by encouraging new and younger members to progress.
The racing element is of course an important aspect of our activities. We have enjoyed several senior road race wins over the years, as well as victories in schoolboy and veteran categories. Sheffrec is also strongly represented in Time Trials and Hill Climbs. Our best year to date has got to be 2011 when we claimed several senior road race wins, were the best performing Yorkshire-based Club in British Cycling Yorkshire events and had a strong representation in the North Midlands Road Race League. These successes were significantly down to Daniel Storey, whose success gave him 1st Category status and led on to a contract with the TSR-Trigon racing team. There were also strong performances from Ashley Proctor, who was 2nd in the Yorkshire Regional Road Race Championships (and went on the join the Altura-Sportscover cycling team), Alex Mitchell and Mike Hutton who both moved up to 2nd Category status. We could not hope to continue with this exceptional level of success, since we are an unsponsored club and are more than happy to see those members who show exceptional talent move to clubs who can provide them with greater material support. Sheffrec have had 3 winners of the North Midlands Road Race League with Marc Etches claiming back to back wins in 2007 and 2008. Ashley Proctor continued Sheffrec’s dominance by winning the series in 2009.
Sheffrec are also very active in the organising of events. We promoted the BC Yorkshire Road Race Championships in 2011. For the last 12 years we helped organise and provided the marshals for the Sheffield Grand Prix, the 2012 & 2017 race incorporated the National Criterium Championship: these were held on a closed circuit around Sheffield city centre and were so successful that the event is now firmly on the Elite Circuit Series Calendar.
The 2025 event will again be part of the British Cycling National Circuit Series held on Wednesday 16th July. We are proud promoters of the VeloViewer Monsal Hill Climb and have taken the prestigious hill climb event to another level with around 200 riders taking part in the famous event which dates back to 1930.
